Commissioner Glick Provides Insight into Climate and Hydro’s Role

By Morgan Gerard & Charles Sensiba on May 15, 2019

In the April 27, 2019 edition of the Energy Bar Association’s Energy Law Journal, FERC Commissioner Richard Glick and legal advisor Matthew Christiansen published an article titled “FERC and Climate Change,” describing that the actions of the Commission, as well as the family of federal and state agencies, have “substantial consequences” for climate change. The authors argue that the threat of climate change does not necessitate “a wholesale reinterpretation of the Commission’s jurisdiction or a…

Washington Energy Report

Oregon DEQ Denies Jordan Cove Water Quality Certification

By Elizabeth McCormick & Charles Sensiba on May 15, 2019

On May 6, 2019, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (“Oregon DEQ”) denied a water quality certification under section 401 of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) for the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) export terminal and its feeder pipeline, the Pacific Connector, to be located on Oregon’s southern coast.…

Washington Energy Report

FERC Holds that California Waived Clean Water Act Authority in Pending Hydropower Project Relicensing

By Morgan Gerard & Charles Sensiba on April 24, 2019

On April 18, 2019, FERC issued a unanimous order, supported by all FERC Commissioners, ruling that the California State Water Resources Control Board (“SWRCB”) waived authority to issue a water quality certification under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), 33 U.S.C. § 1641, in the pending hydropower relicensing of the Middle Fork American River Project (“Project”). Applying the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s (“D.C. Circuit”) seminal opinion in Hoopa Valley Tribe…

Washington Energy Report

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Tighten Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Timeframes

By Melissa Horne & Charles Sensiba on February 13, 2019

On February 5, 2019, a copy of a December 13, 2018 policy directive memorandum from the U.S. Department of the Army’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Works to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) Chief of Engineers was released. Notably, the memorandum directs the USACE to adhere to a “default time period” of 60 days for states to act on a request for water quality certification under Clean Water Act (“CWA”) Section 401 with regard…

Washington Energy Report

2nd Circuit Vacates New York’s Denial of Water Quality Certification for Gas Pipeline

By Elizabeth McCormick & Charles Sensiba on February 13, 2019

On February 5, 2019, in an unpublished summary order, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit (“2nd Circuit”) overturned the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (“New York DEC”) denial of a water quality certification for National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation’s (“National Fuel”) Northern Access Pipeline Project and remanded it back to the state for further explanation.…

Washington Energy Report

FERC Issues Notice on Proposed Hydropower Rules

By Elizabeth McCormick & Charles Sensiba on February 6, 2019

On January 31, 2019, pursuant to Public Law No. 115-270, the America’s Water Infrastructure Act (“AWIA”), FERC issued a notice soliciting comments on proposed rules to establish expedited licensing processes for qualifying projects at existing nonpowered dams and closed-loop pumped storage facilities.…

Washington Energy Report

D.C. Circuit Opinion Strikes Down “Withdraw-and-Resubmit” Practice for State Water Quality Certifications

By Charles Sensiba & Morgan Gerard on January 30, 2019

On January 25, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (“D.C. Circuit”) in a unanimous decision granted a petition for review in Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC, No. 14-1271 (D.C. Cir., Jan. 25, 2019). The key holding in the case, which concerns the ongoing FERC’s relicensing of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project, is that the States of California and Oregon waived their authorities under section 401 of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”),…

Charles Sensiba

Commissioner Glick Provides Insight into Climate and Hydro’s Role

Oregon DEQ Denies Jordan Cove Water Quality Certification

FERC Holds that California Waived Clean Water Act Authority in Pending Hydropower Project Relicensing

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Tighten Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Timeframes

2nd Circuit Vacates New York’s Denial of Water Quality Certification for Gas Pipeline

FERC Issues Notice on Proposed Hydropower Rules

D.C. Circuit Opinion Strikes Down “Withdraw-and-Resubmit” Practice for State Water Quality Certifications

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